Flames Leak 30th Logo?

Got some Calgary Flames news for you this afternoon on a couple of topics — their 30th anniversary and their brand new third jersey.

Icethetics reader Cody has sent in information on this first subject. According to Sportsnet.ca, the Flames aren't supposed to unveil their new 30th anniversary logo until September. However, it seems to have appeared briefly on the team's web site on Tuesday. An intentional effort to net a free but unsuspecting focus group or a simple mistake?

It is rumoured that the Calgary Flames will wear a new logo on occasion this year to commemorate its 30th NHL season.

The logo was expected to be officially unveiled in September, but it appeared on the team's web site on Tuesday. It is unknown for what games the new logo will appear.

Flames' 30th anniversary logo?The logo in question is apparently what you see here to the right.

There's no way to know at this point if this will be the 30th anniversary logo or if it's even a final version. If it is, I think it's safe to say the Oilers beat them on 30th logos — by a mile.

That's really all I have on that. This logo has been making its way around Flames fan sites and message boards since Tuesday but no one seems to have any definitive information.

Personally, I'm curious about that last line in the Sportsnet story. "It is unknown for what games the new logo will appear." If it's an anniversary logo, it should simply be a patch on the uniform for the whole season. I certainly hope there's no plan to put this on a third jersey.

Which brings me to the third jersey news. Last September, I posted this story — which appeared in the Calgary Sun. Basically, it was Flames president Ken King talking about the team's third jersey plans. King all but confirmed the new sweater to be black with a new crest — not the Flaming C — and that it would debut for the 2009-10 season. At the time he said it was 95% complete.

I'm now hearing from a couple of sources that this design is being replaced in favor of a retro look from the team's early days (no word if the Atlanta Flames logo will make a reappearance). It's possible the team is working on a white sweater devoid of any black. Those were the days.

I'll continue to follow these stories but keep in mind that we're less than a month away from getting some official news — which I always prefer anyway. Meantime, Calgary fans, were you wary of another black jersey? Excited about a vintage look? What about this 30th anniversary logo?

Update on Thursday · Aug 20 · 2009 | 2:20 PM PDT by Chris

Got a quick follow-up on the 30th anniversary logo thanks to the guys at the Calgarypuck Forums, specifically a user called alltherage. He's allegedly got a screenshot from the web site before the logo was removed. However, I can't vouch for the legitimacy of this image, so I post it with some hesitation.

As you can see, it's right there above Kiprusoff's head, but it's placed in such a way that would've made it easy to add later. That being said, the image was posted on Wednesday afternoon so it may well be real.

Did anyone else happen to see it before it was removed? Anyone else have a screenshot to share?

Update on Thursday · Aug 20 · 2009 | 6:23 PM PDT by Chris

One last update to this post before I put this topic to bed. Apparently, we have all seen this logo before right here on Icethetics and only Jared noticed. He pointed out that it was in a preview image I posted of the Flames' new web site almost a month ago. It just slid under the radar.

Early version of Flames' web site redesign

Turns out it was Photoshopped right into the rafters and I never even noticed. I think I was distracted by the burning hockey players. So there you have it. End of subject.

Wild, Avs 3rd Jersey Info

The Minnesota Wild have announced the dates for the official unveiling of of their new third jersey as well as its on-ice debut, according to their web site.

The Wild will offer fans a first look at the new green sweater on Sunday, August 30 at the Minnesota State Fair. It will then debut on Wednesday, October 21 when they face the Avs — who will also be getting a new third jersey (scroll down for more on that).

The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Minnesota Wild announced today that the club will introduce a new third jersey for the upcoming 2009-10 NHL season on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 12:30 p.m. at the Minnesota State Fair’s FAN Central building.

Minnesota’s new third jersey will be unveiled on stage in front of the FAN Central building starting at 12:30 p.m. The event will include Wild players and Nordy. The Wild’s State Fair booth will be located in the new FAN Central building this year at the intersection of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street.

Minnesota is scheduled to wear its new third jerseys in a game for the first time on Wednesday, Oct. 21 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Not mentioned in this release is the fact that Derek Boogaard will be modeling the new sweater at the event. I'm sure there will be pictures and you can count on Icethetics to do all the heavy lifting for you.

I also added a countdown to the sidebar since we have an actual date! Just 11 days to go...

Now comes the time when I have to eat my words. It doesn't happen too often, but when I do make a mistake, I own up to it. Most of you read my initial reaction to the rumored leak of the Avs' new third jersey. Out of embarrassment, I won't link to it (you can find it), but I basically called it a sham.

I have come into new information that now has me 99% convinced that the rendering originally posted at the SportsLogos.net forums, and later picked up by Mile High Hockey, the Denver Post and Icethetics (damn!), is actually rather accurate.

To protect my source (whose first name is Matt), I won't go into detail, but let's just say, more or less (emphasis on more), this is what the Avalanche will be wearing on several occasions this coming season.

Yep, this will be the Avs' new third jersey

So, to Matt and everyone else who counts on Icethetics for solid information, I sincerely apologize for my rush to judgment. If you guys got some of the emails I get on a daily basis, you'd be cynical too. But it's no excuse. There you have it.

Now, regarding the jersey itself, I think it'll be nice to see the Avs in blue — a subtle nod to their franchise's history perhaps? Burgundy is undeniably the color most associated with the Avalanche, but isn't the purpose of a third jersey to experiment with your look? To color outside the lines?

Based on earlier comments, I know many of you aren't so thrilled about the sweater, but all I can say is give it a chance. And don't rush to judgment the way I did. Wait until you see it on the ice.

And that's my take on that. Later tonight, I'll get to those pictures of the new Team USA jerseys. I'm trying collect the cream of the crop as there doesn't seem to be any official source the way there was for Team Canada.

I also promised to post all of the other Ice Bulls submissions that came in. They'll be up at some point tonight. Over 25 different artists sent in artwork in less than a week! Icethetics readers/designers really are the best around! Also, if you haven't seen it yet, head to IceBulls.org to see the team's new logo.

Alleged Avalanche Leak

There's a story that's been making its way around the web today regarding an alleged leak of the Colorado Avalanche's third jersey.

It started with a post this morning at Mile High Hockey — an Avs blog — and continued on to Denver Post beat writer Adrian Dater's blog All Things Avs. Here at Icethetics, I see this sort of concept art all the time. Rarely have I seen it picked up by so many other blogs before my own (that should tell you something).

For reference, this is the design in question, which originated at the SportsLogos.net message boards.

Avalanche third jersey concept

It's a new take on the burgundy alternate sweaters from several years ago. David at Mile High Hockey is not taking a hard line on the legitimacy of this rumor, but he does sound confident in its source.

Being a bit of a jersey geek, I am familiar with the, uh, "fluorescent" poster who made the mock up from a camera phone pic he says he took of the jersey. I spoke to him a little yesterday and while I haven't seen firsthand evidence of the jerseys, I'm pretty confident this individual has seen the above jersey in person.

If it is the 3rd, I have to admit it's not that bad. I was fearful the fine folks at RBK would find a way to come up with something even more ridiculous than the horrible uniprons they've foisted on us. The above mock up may not be the best looking jersey in the world, but it's a vast improvement over what the team is wearing now. I assume that blue is Nordique blue, a nice nod that many have been suggesting.

I think the Quebec connection is a bit of a stretch, but he may be right in assuming that, if true, these would probably be nice-looking sweaters. The burgundy ones sure were sharp.

I've done some research and asked around among my usual sources and, basically, I can't confirm or deny it. That being said, my gut reaction, based on over two years of tracking this type of news, tells me something is fishy. But when isn't it, right?

Anyway, it all remains to be seen but I thought I'd at least mention it here because of the coverage its getting. Share your thoughts below on this latest rumor.

Sens Hint at New 3rd Jersey?

An Ottawa Senators-centric blog called The 6th Sens picked up on a story tonight I'm sure a lot of Icethetics readers will be interested in. It has to do with the question of whether the club is contemplating a new third jersey for the near future.

The Sens introduced their infamous "Sens" jersey just last season, marketing themselves as "Back in Black," but recent renovations at ScotiaBank Place have us wondering whether that particular sweater is long for this world.

Instead, what about this?

It's a concept that has been floating around the web ever since the Senators introduced the new "O" logo in 2007 — maybe even before that.

I think at one point there was even a petition on behalf of Senators fans to get the team to adopt this jersey. Could their wish be coming true?

In an interview with SensTV's Gord Wilson, COO Cyril Leeder talked about a new addition to the arena called The O Store — he said it's a nod to the old days when the Sens wore that big O on their chest.

But it's not so much what he said in the video as it was the artist renderings that were shown. They depicted this very jersey design on the shelves of the new store.

Previewing the new O Store at ScotiaBank Place

As you can see, not only is that exact jersey on the self, but also the vintage "barber-pole" style similar to one of the classic sweaters the Canadiens wore last season. Here's another shot.

That awesome O jersey is all over the place

It makes you wonder whether this was some secret plan all along. But that's for conspiracy theorists. For the rest of us, it's a nod toward a very exciting possibility that Ottawa might at last have one of the best jerseys in the NHL — not long after unleashing one of the worst on us.

Here's the video in case you're interested in seeing some of the other renderings.

If for some reason that doesn't work for you, here's a direct link.

This isn't official and it may turn out to be nothing at all, but it's sure interesting to think about nonetheless. Thanks to Paul for the tip.

Update on Monday · Aug 10 · 2009 | 12:41 PM PDT by Chris

You guys and your silly comments. You never learn. Your loss.

Anyway, I did hear from Jacob, the designer of the now famous black "O" jersey, and he says while he has not been in contact with the team, he has spoken with the Ottawa Citizen. Perhaps the local media could be of some help in getting the the Senators into such a well-designed jersey one day.

In the meantime, you can always do your part by signing the petition.

Update on Monday · Aug 10 · 2009 | 10:03 PM PDT by Chris

The Ottawa Citizen now has a great article on this very subject. Definitely worth a read for Icethetics fans. Here's a brief excerpt.

Jacob Barrette is passionate about putting a new face on the Ottawa Senators, but it has nothing to do with whether Dany Heatley returns to the lineup or not.

For Barette, it’s all about old-time hockey, or at least the look of the good old days.

Barrette wants today’s Senators to dress more like the Senators clubs that won 11 Stanley Cups between 1903 and '27. He has 900 names on a petition asking the Senators to adopt a throwback look featuring a stylized "O" on the front of their jerseys with broad stripes behind it.

"I just think it’s a good way to promote the history of the team and its roots in Ottawa," says Barrette, who owns a graphics design company and teaches graphic design at La Cité Collégiale. "I think they’ve done a good job of promoting the team towards kids, but I think they’re lacking a bit in celebrating the heritage of having an NHL team in Ottawa."

The Senators clearly believe there’s at least some marketing appeal to the old look. Ottawa players have worn a smaller "O" as a shoulder patch on their uniforms for the past two National Hockey League seasons and a select number of vintage "O" souvenir sweaters have been sold at the club's merchandise store at Scotiabank Place.

Last week, the Senators also announced they would be opening the "O Store" in the second level at Scotiabank Place, where fans could buy a wider selection of the vintage jerseys and souvenirs featuring the club’s traditional gladiator logo.

There are no plans, however, for Senators players to sport the "O" on the front of their jerseys for the 2009-10 season, a team spokesman says.

Take note. No plans for the Sens to wear this one next season. But it doesn't say anything about 2010 and beyond.

The Anaheim Enigma

Something bizarre is going on.

It's like waking up from a dream and trying to remember it. Yet the harder you grasp for details the scarcer they become. A mystery has been brewing in Anaheim. A third jersey mystery. I can't claim to solve it but I will present all of the facts I am aware of.

When I sat down to write tonight's post it was with the intention of revisiting something I posted to Twitter on Tuesday evening.

Adam Brady, Director of Publications & New Media for the Anaheim Ducks, wrote an interesting article on his blog talking about the checkered past of third jerseys in the NHL — his club included.

Mysteriously, that post has disappeared. Luckily, nothing in cyberspace ever truly disappears. Google caches everything these days and I've taken full advantage of that in order to keep his post alive here at Icethetics. It's a very good read — even more so now that it's been removed from the Ducks' official web site.

The following was posted on July 27 at 3:58 PM, and re-posted here for posterity with minor edits.

My never-ending search for summer blog material has netted a few items that fall under the hockey jersey umbrella, a topic that remains endlessly fascinating. That's especially true around these parts, as our (once-Mighty) team has been guilty of a few jersey missteps over the years.

The (Mighty) Ducks make a couple of appearances in a well-thought-out piece on the Puck Daddy blogsite that lists the 10 criteria for what makes a bad hockey sweater. Categories include "There are excessive stripes" or "Overt cartoonishness" or "It's an All-Star jersey." Among the teams represented in the "It's like they let a child pick the team's colors from a crayon box" is the Mighty Ducks jersey of 1993-2006, seemingly for its unique mixture of teal and eggplant. Somehow the masked Duck logo escaped falling into the "cartoonishness" category.

But that uniform looked downright elegant compared to the reprehensible third jersey the Ducks unveiled during the 1995-96 season that depicted a cartoon of Wild Wing bursting through the ice on the front. That image took the attention away from an almost-equally awful back of the jersey, in which the players' last names and numbers were scrawled in an unreadable font. Here's someone actually wearing the thing, and you can tell he's really pleased about it.

I would have killed to be a fly on the wall in the meeting where this thing got approved. For the Anaheim Ducks organization, this jersey is kind of how the people from the Coca-Cola corporation view the introduction of New Coke in the '80s. It's just something we kind of pretend didn't happen. (Then you have wise-ass bloggers like me bringing it up again.)

In the aformentioned piece, the blogger aptly writes: There have been over 50 third or fourth jerseys in the NHL since the mid-90s, and all but probably eight of them have just been objectively terrible. And he's right. That Ducks third jersey may lead the pack, but it's not ahead by much. We can look just up the freeway for one egregious example. At right is one of the low points of The Great One's career.

But nothing can compare to the atrocities adorning this collection of the worst minor league hockey jerseys of all time. It leads off with a look that brings whole new meaning to the term "Y2K scare" in the Wichita Thunder's special New Year's Eve jerseys. And it doesn't get much worse than the 2004-05 season fo the Quad City Mallards of the IHL. While the big boys were sitting out that season for a labor dispute, the Mallards sported two beauties. One was the "sheriff" look with the oversized badge, handcuffs and belt buckle (observe the looks of abject humiliation on the players' faces). The other was the "puffy shirt" pirate tribute ("But I don't wanna be a pirate!") complete with fake red sash and a Mallards logo somehow half-hidden under the left armpit. Rule No. 1 for hockey jerseys: If it looks like a male stripper's uniform, it's probably not a good idea.

Back to our team, I happened to like the third jersey the Ducks adopted coming out of the lockout in 2005-06, though when the organization changed its name, colors and uniforms for the 2006-07 campaign, a third jersey was put on hold for a few years.

There are no plans to have one this coming season, but I've heard rumblings that there are thoughts about adding one for 2010-11.

With that in mind, I take you to another jersey-related discovery from today, the hockey Jersey Builder tool on The Sporting Store website. The tool allows you to create your own jersey by mixing and matching colors, styles, etc., and uploading your own logo. So, Ducks fans, let's see your best creations (it's almost 4:00 as I post this, so your work productivity was probably going downhill from here until the rest of the day anyway).

A Ducks third jersey isn't a Ducks third jersey without using the long-overdue Ducks "D" logo on the front, so use this one I'm providing for the front of the jersey. (Right-click that link, click "Save Target As..." and save it to your computer. Then you'll use the Upload button on the Builder to put it on the jersey, move it, resize it, etc.)

After you're finished, go ahead and email me your creation. The "email" function on the Builder is a little tricky, so your best bet is to screen capture your creation and then paste directly it into an email. PC users, to do this, make sure the image is viewable on your screen, press the Print Screen key located on the top right of your keyboard, then open up an email and "Paste" into the body of the email. (Mac users, I honestly have no idea how you do this. [Command+Shift+3]) Address it to me at [removed] and make sure to write "Third Jersey" in the subject line. Make sure to put your name somewhere in there. I'll post the best ones (as well as the worst ones, which I'll make fun of relentlessly) later this week.

Here's one I put together quickly, which is simple but classy, if you ask me. You get the idea.

Now let's see what you've got.

That scathing review at the beginning is a little surprising coming from someone who works in the department whose job it is to make the team look good. Perhaps that's the reason the entry was removed. Or perhaps not. He did liken the 1995 third jersey to New Coke after all.

As for the last part, I removed his email address so you guys don't bug him with concepts that, despite what he's written there, will likely never be posted on his blog. Instead, if you're so inclined, email them to me and I may post them here or on Twitter. And below is a screenshot of Brady's blog before the bizarre disappearance — just in case you want proof.

The one piece of news I'd like to take away from this is the fact that a Ducks third jersey is being mulled for 2010. That alone is good news.

Since I've posted the article in its entirety, I think to comment further on it would simply be redundant. You know what I think. Instead, I want to know what you guys think. First, of the content of the article and second, its swift removal from the Ducks' web site. And is there some type of conspiracy at work here to stifle any third jersey news coming out of Anaheim?

Icethetics reader James writes in tonight to remind me: "Last season Brian Hayward (Ducks' television color analyst) during a game said that he had seen the third jersey. Later in the broadcast he went back on that and said there were no plans for one."

The drama builds as the summer heats up. Comment away.